A Time to Plant and Harvest To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven… A time to plant and a time to harvest. [Eccl. 3:1,2] 2020 has seen a variety of “seasons”. After the eventful 2019 harvest unlike any other in Victoria, this year promised more of the same. Then the fires hit, the pandemic halted the world and restrictions have been our way of life since. But even in this season, it’s fair to ask, “What is heaven’s purpose? What is God doing in this ‘planting’ time, or is He just giving the fields a ‘rest’?” Let’s reflect on this reality. Last year the Lord of the Harvest blessed us with just over 350 new believers. In the first quarter of 2020 He added another 91 new believers (a record high for 1st quarter additions to our faith). Was this all because of Revelation Today? No, the Holy Spirit utilized that event to bring over 70 people through baptism, and more are preparing for that sacred joy! So where did all the others come from? Maybe it is because God has been teaching us more about discipleship –
remember “Come to Him and go with Him”? What we’ve seen is the followers of Christ more closely following Christ by preparing people to receive Him, sowing the gospel seed more freely, cultivating the budding plant more diligently and reaping a fruitful harvest. This has been a time to harvest.
discipleship – coming to Jesus and going with Him into the harvest field.
Then COVID hit! Now it’s more of a time to plant. God has not been surprised or deterred. He continues to do what is in His nature to do – love people to His kingdom. Even with the restrictions and difficulties, God has blessed with over 50 precious people joining our church since April. Most of us, however, have known little of this as our attentions have understandably pivoted to more internal matters of church life – how is everyone coping with the lockdown, how can we distribute essentials to people in need, who is missing at church, and virtual outreach endeavours.
» Sow the gospel seed by introducing them to our best friend Jesus.
While we’ve all struggled with the changes, many have endeavoured to blaze new trails. Visit Vic.adventist.org. au or use the QR code on pg 2 to read about some of the initiatives that have been born of adversity. So what can we expect for next year? Let’s review the basics:
DARP trainees graduated between Melbourne's lockdowns
• Jesus commissioned us to make disciples • Harvest Victoria is about
• Discipleship is only experienced in relationship to Jesus, one another and the people in our communities. • In reaching out to people in our community we endeavour to: » Prepare the soil of their heart by genuinely befriending them.
» Cultivate the budding growth of new life by studying the vitalizing truths of God’s word. »Harvest the matured plants and love them to the body of Christ. Jesus said, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the labourers are few. Therefore, pray to Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest.” Matthew 9:37,38 We want to help you realize this vision of Jesus – an army of labourers in His harvest. Come to him every day by abiding in Him and He in you. Then go with Him and see where He is at work. When you see Him working, join Him. Here is a challenge to every Adventist in Victoria. For 2021, model authentic discipleship by reaching out to two people to lead them to Christ (don’t know how? We can help with that). And to everyone in a position of leadership, to our pastors, teachers, chaplains, Bible workers, Elders, ministry leaders…multiply your influence by mentoring two members in your role to become disciple makers themselves. The time for this heavenly purpose is Andrew Jasper now!
Two of the new initiatives that were started in 2020
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Living in Aged Care in 2020
to provide them with engagement and to lift their spirits in these extraordinary times. Our activity staff have been innovative in organising many events.
We live in challenging times but to date, AdventCare has had no COVID cases in our homes and units. I am proud of our Managers who provide leadership, wisdom and effective quality systems to keep our residents and staff safe. We have strong monitoring and screening processes in place which have proven to be effective. Because of this we are still able to admit new residents who may need to move to aged care or retirement living from the community or hospital.
We have also been fortunate to have our Chaplaincy team, who have assisted and supported both residents and staff, providing spiritual and emotional support as they deal with the current restrictions and challenges of everyday life. They provided the residents with opportunities for worship and reflection at a time when our local churches are restricted from providing additional worship and support services.
Since July we have restricted visiting to limited numbers of visitors for clinical and compassionate reasons only. This has helped to keep our residents safe and we have used other methods of engagement such as window visits and Zoom catch ups with their families to maintain social connections. Earlier in November, we opened up visitation to our aged care homes on an appointment basis and this was welcomed by the residents and their families as an initial step to further easing of restrictions. We will continue to be vigilant and care for our residents and support the staff in making AdventCare a safe and happy place to live. We have also increased the range of internal activities for the residents
We remain focused on our Mission which is “To provide excellent care in a safe and secure Christian environment”. The success of our services reflects this focus and we are motivated to ensure that our residents live the best life they can by caring for their physical, social, spiritual and mental wellbeing. AdventCare is well connected with the community and this is reflected in the near full occupancy levels at our aged care homes and units at a time when the industry occupancy averages are far lower. There is high demand for our services and the hospitals and referral agencies see us as a preferred provider of choice through many years of service to the community. AdventCare is doing well and we are grateful for the support from the Church community. We look forward to being able to get out to the Churches in the future to talk about our services and what we can do to help your members now and in the future.
David Reece
DEVELOPMENT UPDATE AdventCare Whitehorse We have commenced the redevelopment of the Whitehorse aged care home at Nunawading, which will see an additional 48 aged care beds for the community, along with key new infrastructure improvements including a new kitchen, laundry, cafe and staff areas. This project will be completed in late 2022 and will enable us to meet the increasing demand for our services from the community and local Churches. Building is expected to have commenced by the time of print and the 48 extra beds will be available at the end of 2021. We are also rebuilding the affordable Central retirement units at Nunawading , expected to be completed in February 2021, with the builders making good progress.
AdventCare Yarra Ranges We will build eight new retirement units adjacent to the existing site and these will be completed around mid 2021. Many local Warburton Church members have shown keen interest in being part of our community and we look forward to being able to extend our retirement services to the community.
Pavilions Blackburn Lake Stage one saw the demolition of the old Blair Wing which was over 50 years old
A camera was installed to provide a live feed of the building works so the residents could watch the progress
Eight new units at Warburton are planned for completion mid 2021
AdventCare is shortly to commission and will manage the first stage of Pavilions on the old Camp-ground adjacent to the Conference building, and this will have 41 retirement apartments and an excellent range of facilities such as café, cinema, library and community spaces for residents and their families. There will be a Concierge service to assist residents and we will build a strong Pavilions community as the future stages are planned and developed. IntraVic | 15
